Editorial September 22, 1934 Issue

Mental Erectness

Violet Ker Seymer

In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 79) Mrs. Eddy writes, "If God is upright and eternal, man as His likeness is erect in goodness and perpetual in Life, Truth, and Love." Determining to prove this great truth, the Christian Scientist learns to maintain his own mental erectness and to ride, if need be, the floods of fear and material suggestion even as the ark rode the waves until they subsided.

Man-made doctrines result in obscuration of the truth about God and man; they oppress the human race. The doctrine of "fallen man," for instance, falsely presumes to perpetuate sin, suffering, humiliation, subjection to evil. These beliefs deny the spiritual erectness, the absolute rectitude, of man in God's image. No normal individual would stoop to pick up from the dust an unworthy object and carry it along with him. Neither should anyone stoop to carry through life the belief of a man of dust, nothingness. Bountiful spiritual light is present to outshine all misty beliefs of fear, sin, pain, sorrow, and Christian Scientists are pledged to refute this fog of materialism as they would refute a myth. Their necessity is to hold to the truth about God and man and to abandon all contrary views. Everything that the world has to offer to humanity is inconsequential in comparison with the value of the lofty, practical understanding of God and man which Christian Science presents.

By our adoption of the premise of perfect God and perfect spiritual man, time-honored false beliefs are uncovered in our thought for their destruction by Truth. This uncovering and destruction leads us to "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Reasoning strictly from this premise of spiritual perfection we are compelled to exclude from our thinking the doctrine of "fallen man," with all its subtle pleas for leniency with materiality, compromise, resignation to inharmony, procrastination in overcoming, half-hearted effort. No cover is given to these myths by one who systematically sets himself to reflect Truth at all points.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
Item of Interest
September 22, 1934
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit